SILENT AND AMAZED AT JESUS The Jewish leaders sent spies to entrap Jesus with what they thought was an unanswerable question. They asked Jesus, “Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” They had carefully crafted the politically charged question, so that if he answered in the positive, he would offend
HEART SICK FOR HEAVEN Having to wait for any expected good certainly affects our attitude. In this sense, the writer of this proverb accurately observed the growing despondency of the heart that waits unfulfilled. Yet, it is even more intense in the spiritual longing that we have for God. It was in this spiritual sense
HAS SALVATION COME TO YOUR HOUSE? On his way up to Jerusalem Jesus stopped in Jericho. He ate at a tax collector’s house named, Zacchaeus. Now Zacchaeus was short of stature and had climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus over the crowds following Him. But Jesus knew he was there and called him
THE CURRENCY OF THE KINGDOM IS ASKING When a blind man begging on the roadside near Jericho heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, he commanded that the blind man be brought to Him. Jesus asked, “What do you want Me
LOVE AND TRUTH ARE REVEALED IN CHRIST Personifying the divine attributes, the psalmist wrote of a day when faithful love and truth would finally join together and righteousness and peace would embrace. “Faithful love” is the translation of the Hebrew word “chesed,” which can be translated “mercy” or “covenantal love.” This is God’s kind of
WHERE IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD? Where is the kingdom of God? And when will it come? The Pharisees asked Jesus to show them the kingdom. But He warned them that it was not yet something they could observe. They were looking for the outward evidence of pomp and power from a conquering king, while
NOT MORE PROOF, BUT LESS PRIDE This was Abraham’s response to the rich man who while in torment in Hades begged for Lazarus to return to warn his brothers of the reality of heaven and hell. This dialogue was the conclusion to a story that Jesus told to illustrate the way people would refuse to
THE IMPORTANCE OF SCRIPTURE READING Moses gave Israel the Word that the Lord had given to him. And Joshua, after Moses had died, gave the people the Word that Moses had passed to him. Joshua did not leave out a single word, but passed it on whole to all of Israel, even to the “little
WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR YOU TO COME TO YOUR SENSES? Jesus told a parable about a father and two sons. The younger one was rebellious and took his portion of his father’s wealth and squandered it in riotous living. When his money had run out, a famine came, and he took a job feeding
THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS Jesus gave the example of counting the cost before building a tower to illustrate the importance of doing the same before making a decision to follow Him. It’s true that Jesus has paid for our salvation, so we may receive it freely by faith. Yet saying yes to so great